In this chapter, Mario and his friends are going to find a way to get to Mt. Rugged. There's going to be someone waiting for them, as well as a Parakoopa who needs to keep better track of his mail.

However, Mt. Rugged also has Bowser's minions on the loose. They must not want them to go to Dry Dry Desert. Can they take them?

Chapter 15: All Aboard

Mario and Lincoln headed to the train heading to Mt. Rugged. Hopefully their friends could go with them. Since there were a grand total of nine in their group, they were probably going to need a lot of tickets...which would potentially require a lot of Coins.

On the other hand, they did receive a lot of coins from defeating the Koopa Bros and Larry. Why exactly would they need that many?

However, once they reached the train station, they noticed that the train didn't seem to be moving at all. What exactly was going on? It should at least be going SOMEWHERE.

"What's going on here?" asked Lincoln.

"Yeah! We want to go to Mt. Rugged!" exclaimed one of the Toad passengers.

The train conductor decided to explain the situation.

"One of the Koopalings showed up...he was wearing sunglasses and had a purple shell..." said the train conductor.

Mario jumped in surprise. He recognized that Koopaling.

"I guess they haven't given up after their failure to keep the first Star Spirit safe..." noted Lisa.

"We'll have to deal with him too." nodded Goombario.

"But before we do that, I think we'll have to deal with that boulder he put on the train tracks." said Kooper.

"Maybe I can lift it!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"I don't know, Lincoln. That boulder looks heavy even for you...you might hurt yourself." warned Lisa.

Of course, the same could be said if she tried lifting the boulder using her telekinesis...though she probably wouldn't hurt herself since she would likely be at a distance when she tried lifting it.

"Maybe we could break it with our weapons!" shouted Lana.

Immediately, Mario, Lana, and Lily started doing just that, since they all had hammers or a weapon that was hammer-like.

However, though they left cracks in the boulder, there was still no way for the train to get to Mt. Rugged.

"Any other ideas?" asked Lana.

Lily could have sworn her rattle would do the trick. But this was a tough boulder.

Suddenly, Goombario noticed something.

"Isn't there a big crack in the boulder?" questioned the young Goomba.

"There is, actually." nodded Lisa.

At that very moment, Bombette knew where she was needed.

Immediately, Bombette went up to the boulder.

She then blew herself up and the boulder shattered.

"Alright! We should be able to get to Mt. Rugged now." stated Lincoln.

"Thank you so much! This train ride is on the Toad house." said the conductor.

"I guess today is our lucky day." noted Goombario.

Lily giggled.

Immediately, the nine of them entered the train.

Shortly afterwards, it sped off towards Mt. Rugged.

Quickly, it reached its destination.

A few seconds later, the door opened so that the passengers could get out.

"Thanks for being with us, Mario." said the train conductor.

Mario gave the thumbs up.

"But be careful, Bowser's minions are lurking around here..." stated the Toad. Bowser's minions seemed to be all over the place ever since he had obtained power over the Star Rod. Not even Toad Town was completely safe.

"Ah yes, they don't want us to enter the Dry Dry Desert..." noted Kooper.

If they wanted to get to Dry Dry Desert, they were going to have to fight for it.

Immediately, Mario and his friends stepped off the train.

Shortly afterwards, they noticed a Whacka.

"Tis is a fine day to be sure! Just look at the sky!" exclaimed Whacka. The sun certainly was bright among Mt. Rugged.

However, the weather also happened to be rather unpredictable. But for the time being, he was satisfied.

"This is a Whacka. He's part of an endangered species so I would advise you not to whack him with your hammer. But if you do, you'll get delicious Whacka Bumps." noted Goombario.

Mario noted that perhaps it was best not to whack Whacka. He didn't want the Whackas to end up like the dinosaurs.

"I see that you like sightseeing." remarked Lisa.

"Why, yes I do! You didn't think that I spent all day in my cave, did you? Just the other day I saw a Parakoopa that was delivering mail..." noted Whacka.

Mario remembered that there was a Parakoopa who had given him mail inviting him to go to Peach's Castle. Incidentally, that was when Bowser decided to strike and beat him up. Some party that turned out to be.

"I also saw a rather gloomy girl...she had black hair and never seemed to smile. It's a shame really...personally I love to smile!" exclaimed the mole.

Lincoln's eye widened in surprise. This sounded like somebody that he knew.

He decided to ask him another question.

"Does she say the word "Sigh" a lot?" asked Lincoln.

"As a matter of fact, yes, she does. Why is she always sighing?" inquired Whacka. He and Lucy were very different people.

"Guys, I think I might know where Lucy is!" exclaimed the boy.

"Perfect! Now we can reunite our family some more!" shouted Lana.

"The only question now is where exactly Lucy is...she's probably looking for somewhere more gloomy..." noted Lisa.

"I heard that she reads My Princess Pony...not even I would read that." questioned Lola.

"How'd you find out?" asked Lincoln.

"Well, I know I DIDN'T read it." answered the princess girl. She would rather read something that involved knights and dragons as well as princesses and ponies. Something more action-packed.

Immediately, the party went to go look for Lucy.

Meanwhile, Parakarry was flying around with a sack full of mail.

"Let's see now...I think that the citizens of Dry Dry Desert could use some mail, now couldn't they? That way they'll think about something other than how dry the Dry Dry Desert is. When was the last time that it ever rained?" asked Parakarry.

Little did he know that Lucy was nearby.

"Hey." said Lucy from right behind him.

"Aaah!" screamed Parakarry.

Unfortunately, since he was carrying a sack full of mail, he dropped a few of the letters he was carrying.

They scattered in the wind.

"Darn it! Look what you did! Now I have to pick up the letters that I lost!" shouted the Parakoopa.

"Sorry about that." apologized Lucy. Apparently, she shouldn't greet the mailman when he comes to deliver mail to the Loud House.

"Well, you might as well help me pick them up. Don't scare me like that!" exclaimed Parakarry.

Lucy nodded as she went to pick up the mail.

"Let's see now..." said Lucy. Where exactly had the letters gone?

Curious, she noticed that there was a ladder.

However, it was in a Monty Mole's mouth, and he didn't look friendly.

How was she going to get him to let go?

At that very moment, Lincoln showed up.

"Lucy!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Huh. You greeted me first. That's new for you, Lincoln." remarked Lucy.

Lincoln noted that was the case. It was kind of relieving considering that Lucy often scared people by greeting them first.

"We're so glad to have you back!" shouted Lana.

"We missed you while we were in that prison cell." noted Lola. In fact, she missed her other sisters and Lincoln as well.

"That probably wasn't so bad. I bet it was dark and gloomy." remarked Lucy.

"You bet it was dark and gloomy! That place was a nightmare!" shouted Lana.

Lily shivered with fear. At least they managed to find a way to escape along with the Bob-Ombs. Currently, they were taking residence in Koopa Village...though they weren't planning to change the name to Bob-Omb Village despite their new residents.

"What are you doing?" asked Lincoln.

"I scared a Parakoopa. Now I'm collecting the mail that he dropped." said Lucy.

"I guess you shouldn't have snuck up on him..." noted the boy.

"Yeah...I need to be more careful. Sigh." sighed the girl.

"If you want we can help you..." said Goombario.

"Sure...hmm, it looks like you've been making friends with the characters inside the game. That's nice...though I suppose we'll miss them if we manage to get out, now won't we?" asked Lucy.

"We can always play Paper Mario again...though hopefully we won't get sucked inside next time." noted Lincoln.

Lisa rubbed her hand behind her head.

"Can you help me with this mole? He won't let go of one of the letters that I need to find." asked Lucy.

The Monty Mole blew a raspberry at Lucy. He was keeping that letter.

"Well, we all developed unique abilities once we entered the game...maybe you have some as well." suggested the boy.

"Hmm..." questioned the scary girl.

Immediately, she walked up to the Monty Mole.

"Boo!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Aah!" screamed the Monty Mole.

He dropped the letter and dug away.

"Good job, Lucy!" shouted Lincoln. Apparently, Lucy was scarier to the Koopa Troop than she was to her family.

"Thanks." said Lucy.

However, it appeared that there were more Monty Moles in the area.

One of them went up to Lincoln and scratched him in the face.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Lincoln.

If they wanted to get the other two letters, they were going to have to fight the moles.

One of the moles hurled sand in Mario's pants.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario, who now had rather itchy overalls.

Another Monty Mole hurled a rock at Goombario.

"Ow! My noggin!" shouted Goombario.

However, Lana countered using a burp that incapacitated the Monty Moles near her.

Since she had enough Star Points, she got an upgrade for her wrench.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Lana.

Lola then followed by using her car to run over the other Monty Moles.

They all fainted.

As a reward, Lola got an upgrade to her princess car.

"Well, I'm a princess so of course I should receive a reward!" exclaimed Lola.

"Where do you think that the other letters are?" asked Lily.

"I think I see one over there." said Kooper.

As it turned out, there was another letter. However, one of the Bald Clefts had it.

"Where's the mailman? This letter isn't for me at all." said the Bald Cleft.

At that very moment, the party showed up.

The Bald Cleft gasped. It looked like Mario and Lincoln had managed to make it to Mt. Rugged.

"It's Mario! And Lincoln!" exclaimed the Bald Cleft.

The Bald Cleft charged towards the two.

However, Lucy cast a spell on the Bald Cleft, causing him to shrink.

"Abra kadabra!" shouted Lucy.

"Aah! I'm tiny!" screamed the Bald Cleft. How would he stand a chance against his enemies now?

The Bald Cleft fled, and Lucy got Star Points.

"I can use magic now? Awesome!" exclaimed Lucy. Maybe she should start wearing a witch's outfit.

However, more Bald Clefts were on their way.

"Let's get them!" shouted the Bald Clefts.

In retaliation, Lola spilled tea on the Bald Clefts.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot!" bellowed the unfortunate Bald Clefts.

Mario was rather fortunate that the Bald Clefts didn't have hair (or spikes). Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to jump on them.

One of the Bald Clefts charged towards Kooper and hit him with his head.

"Ow!" exclaimed Kooper, who struggled to keep his balance.

Lily pulled out a POW Block, and the Bald Clefts were defeated. POW Blocks were good for piercing defense.

"Hee hee hee hee!" giggled Lily.

"Now then, where's the last letter?" asked Lincoln.

As it turned out, the last letter was being held by a Spiny. Mario was not going to defeat his foe by jumping. He was going to have use his hammer instead.

"So, Mario thinks he can jump on Bowser's minions whenever he feels like it, doesn't he? Let's see him try it now!" exclaimed the Spiny.

"If that's a Spiny, then where's the Lakitu?" asked Goombario.

"Perhaps they're guarding a different Star Spirit." suggested Lisa.

Immediately, the Spiny charged towards Goombario.

"Ow!" exclaimed Goombario. Unfortunately, his headbonking wasn't going to be effective against the Spinies.

Well, at least until Lucy stepped in.

"Hey, you!" shouted Lucy.

The Spiny gasped and fell on his back.

Seizing his opportunity, Goombario headbonked the Spiny and he produced Star Points.

However, more Spinies were approaching. Lola noted that she couldn't simply run them over with her princess car, or she would get flat tires.

Fortunately, there was another way to deal with them all.

Lincoln picked up Bombette, and tossed her at the Spinies.

She exploded and sent them all packing.

"Yes!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Show off." murmured Lola.

"There, now we got the last letter!" exclaimed Goombario.

"I guess I should give these to Parakoopa then..." noted Lucy.

Immediately, she set out to do so.

However, Parakarry was being attacked by two Bristles.

"Hurry up and give us our mail already!" exclaimed the two Bristles, who were poking Parakarry with their spikes.

"Ow! Stop!" shouted Parakarry.

"Leave him alone!" demanded Lincoln.

Immediately, the two Bristles turned their attention to Lincoln and his family along with Mario and his friends.

Mario attempted to hammer one of the Bristles, but he simply used his spike to poke him when he tried to do so.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

"How are we going to get past those spikes?" asked Lincoln. Not only couldn't they jump on them, but they couldn't hammer them either. These enemies were very smart.

Lucy had a solution to that.

Immediately, she put on a ghost costume.

She then yelled "Boooooo!"

The Bristles were rather frightened, as they immediately withdrew their spikes out of fear.

"That ought to do it." noted Kooper.

Lily pulled out a POW Block.

"On the other hand, we could have done that too..." suggested Goombario.

Lily hit the POW Block, and the two Bristles burst into Star Points.

"Thanks. I really appreciate all you've done for me..." said Parakarry.

Curious, he wondered who Lucy's friends were.

"So...who are your friends?" asked the delivery Koopa.

"These are my friends...as well as my family members." answered Lucy.

"How many siblings do you have?" inquired Parakarry.

"I have ten of them." said the girl.

"Wow!" exclaimed the delivery Koopa.

"Yeah...the mailman has a lot of mail to deliver to them..." noted the girl.

"Well, I think I'll accompany on your adventure. You seem to be traveling a lot, don't you? You went all the way to Mt. Rugged." said Parakarry.

"It's true, we did." nodded Lily.

Immediately, Parakarry decided to join the party.

Since he was a Parakoopa, he could help the party get along large gaps...making Lincoln's life easier.

"By the way, I think I have some mail for you." noted Parakarry.

Parakarry pulled out some letters.

"Dear Goombario, we hope that you're having fun adventuring with Mario! Please let us know if you need anything! From your mother." read Goombario.

"Dear Kooper, thank you for helping us stop the Fuzzies! From Koopa Koot." read Kooper.

"Dear Bombette, thank you for saving us from the Koopa Bros! From your Bob-Omb cellmates." read Bombette.

"I see that your deeds haven't gone unnoticed." remarked Lincoln.

"Let us know if you get any more mail, OK?" asked Goombario.

Parakarry nodded. There were some Lakitus that could deliver him more mail regardless of where he was.

"Let's keep going, shall we?" inquired Lincoln.

The party nodded, and they continued heading to Dry Dry Desert.

However, they were being spied upon.

"What's this? Darn. I guess they must have found a way past that boulder I put on the train tracks. Right then...I'll just have to send someone that I know..." noted Roy.

How did a nice big bird of prey sound?

You probably noticed that I didn't have Mario whack Whacka...let's face it, Mario's supposed to be a hero. We don't want a repeat of the incident where Mario captured Donkey Kong and his son had to rescue him, right? At least Mario has become a better person since then.

In the next chapter, Mario and his friends are going up against a giant bird!